Improvement in the manufacture of metal tubinc



\ 2Sheets- Sheut1. W. F. BROOKS.

Manufacture of Metal Tubing. No. 146,868. PatentedJan.27,1874.

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F. BROOKS.

of Metal Tubing;

Patented Jan. 27, 1874.

Manufacture No. l4. 6,868.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

\VILLIAM F. BROOKS, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR TO ELISHA P. WIL- BUR,OF BETHLEHEM, PENNSYLVANIA.

IMPROVEMENT IN THE MANUFACTURE OF METAL TUBING.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 146,86 8, dated January27, 1874; application filed June 25, 1873.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, 'iLLrAM FORMAN BROOKS, of the city, county, andState of New York, have invented certain Improvements in the Manufactureof Metal Tubing, of which the following is a specification:

This invention relates to a process of manufacturing metal tubing,including tubes of homogeneous iron and steel, in which a seamless tubeis produced t'rom a block having a passage formed through it, and whichis afterward shaped and drawn, or reduced by external and internalpressure, produced, in part, by the action of rolls. The invention maybe briefly and generally described as consisting, first, in a metalblock or eastin g, formed with losses on opposite sides to provide forthe passage of holes in said sides, arranged prefera-bly or primarily toproject partly within the bosses and partly within the body of theblock, and which opposite holes are connected by an opening made betweenthe holes. These bosses and holes provide for the subsequent opening ofthe block without v risk of bursting or breakage by leaving loopsmandrel.

on opposite sides of the block as the latter is rolled into a slab, andthe bosses serve to determine the thickness and uniformity of the tube,they being, in the course of the process, sawed, more or less, off,according to the thickness of the tube. A flanged core or core rods withplate in between them are inserted within the block to give shape to theopen or looped slab as it is rolled from the block, and to provide for aproper pro rata reduction of the metal in all directions. The opening ofthe tube is afterward effected by fluid, vapor, or gas, under pressure,introduced within it, and the tube subsequently passes through rollsoperatin g in connection with a suitably-shaped Seamless meta-l tubesmay thus be made perfectly sound and solid without risk of bursting, andthe same block be used to make tubes of different thicknesses, with thegreatest uniformity as regards a given thickness.

Having thus specified the object and nature of the invention, itsdescription will be proceeded with in reference to the accompanyingdrawings.

Figure 1 represents an end view of a block of homogeneous metal, formedby casting, roll ing, hammering, or by any or all of these methodscombined, with bosses at opposite sides, and provided, by drilling orotherwise, with holes arranged to project into the bosses and within thebody of the block throughout the depth of the latter, in illustration ofthe first or an early stage of the invention; Fig. 2, a similar view ofsaid block within a receiver used to hold it while being opened betweenthe opposite side holes and pressed to form, as represented; Fig. 3, alike view of the same when removed from the receiver; Fig. 4, a view,

showing such block with a flanged metallic core inserted in its opening;Fig. 5, a view of the flanged metallic core detached 5 Fig. 6, an endview of the block with said core therein after the former has beenclosed on-the core by rolling 5 Fig. 7, alike view, showing a furtherreduction and preparation of the block to a point when the bosses aresawed oif. Fig. 8

is a view of the block and core in it after the bosses have been removedand the block has passed rolls, which give to its top and bottomsurfaces a contour or outline corresponding with that of the slab to beproduced. Fig. 9 represents a crosssection or end view of the slab; Fig.10, a view showing the same as opened a few inches, more or less, at itsone end; Fig. 11, a view of the same swaged to form, as represented,preparatory to further opening it. Fig. 12 represents a modification ofFig. 4, the same showing either a casting or block of metal with openingthrough it, as described, and with two core-rods and a 0011-neeting-plate between them inserted therein in place of the flanged corepreviously referred to. Figs. 13 and 14 show longitudinal views of saidcore-rods detached. Fig. 15 represents a block or casting of metal witha metallic core, which is inserted in the mold previous to pouring themetal round it to form the block. Fig. 16 is a similar view to Fig. 7,but with a diminished reduction of the bosses, leaving one-half moremargin between the core and the exterior of the block on the sideshaving the bosses; Fig. 17, a view of such block and core in it afterthe reduction has been made of the bosses, and after the block,

as in Fig. 8, has been rolled to give to its top and bottom surfaces anoutline corresponding with that of the slab to be produced; Fig. 18, anend view of the slab produced from said block. Fig. 19 represents an endview of the block and core, shown in Fig. 16, after edge rolling toone-third the width, and correspondingly reducing the margin between thecore and the boss sides of the block; Fig. 20, a crosssection or'endview of the slab produced from the block shown in Fig. 19. Fig. 21represents a partly broken side view of the slab shown in Fig. 19; Fig.22, a side view of such slab opened a few inches from the end, as shownin Fig. 10; Fig. 23, a like view of the same when swaged to form, asshown in Fig. 11, and with a recess in its flange for a purposehereinafter explained; Fig. 24, a further like View of the same,attached at its swaged end to a hydraulic pump or connection thereof,

also closed by a clamp at its opposite end, and

as partially spread between such two points by the fluid injected by thepump. Fig. 25 illustratesan end view of a nipple formingpart of thehydraulic-pump connection which onters the swaged end of the slab. Fig.26 is a longitudinal sectional view, representing the tube in itspreliminary oval, and subsequently rounded, form as passing over amandrel having two bulbs, and between two pairs of diskrolls. Fig. 27 isan end view of the ovalshaped tubeas it enters the rolls; Fig. 28, asimilar view of the tube as it leaves the rolls; Fig. 29, across-section of the one bulb of the mandrel between the first pair ofrolls, used to prevent the metal from buckling; and Fig. 530, a similarview of the other bulb between the second pair of rolls, used to giveform to the interior of the tube.

The process of manufacture applicable to tubes of homogeneous iron andsteel is as follows: First, a billet is produced from an ingot which iscast of larger sectional area than the billet required, so that therewill be suflicient metal toconsolidate the latter by hammering orrolling, or both, in bringin it to the desired form. The length and sizegenerally of the ingot will vary with the dimensions of the billet to beproduced. In, preparing the ingot it is desirable that it should beheated gradually, and ultimately to such a degree that when hammered orrolled to a billet the latter will be solid, and as free as possiblefrom. all defects. The billet is thensawedtransversely i uto sections,each of the length required to produce a given length of tubing, whichmay be ultimately divided to make one or more tubes of a specifiedlength, and the same sec tion, byedgc-rolling, be used to make tubes ofdifferent sizes.

Each of these sections constitutes a block, A, (Fig. 1,) withoppositely-arranged bosses a u on two of its sides. Said block, whencold, is pierced by drilling with two holes, I) 1), arranged to projectpartly within the bosses and partly within the body of the block,throughout the depth of thelatter. Said block is then moses placed in areceiver or jig, and the metal between the holes I) I) is split oropened throughout the length of the block, thus forming a. connectingopening between the holes, and dividing the block between. the latter.Said block is next put in a receiver, B, (Fig. 2,)constructed to confinethe block within a given space, when a former or plunger is forcedthrough the split which connects the holes on opposite sides of theblock to give the latter a form substantially as represented in Figs. 2and 3, widening the split between the side holes into an enlargedopening, 0, and alterin g the configuration of the side holes, as shownin Figs. 2 and 3, so that the combined apertures form an openingsomewhat of the shape of the letter I. Such perforated block is now puton a spud, the shape of which, in its transverse section, correspondswith the opening in the block, but smaller, so that when the block onthe spud is passed be tween rolls it will be passed off the spud, andthe opening through the block" be partially closed and the bosses a achanged in shape, as represented in Fig. 4. The block is then reheatedand a flanged metal core, O, placed within the opening in the block.Said core, at its flanged ends, should not be wider than one-third, orthereabout, of the thickness of the block at the places of theirinsertion, and the core should be coated with graphite to preventwelding and be entered cold within the block to insure a smooth interiorsurface. If preferred, the core, instead of being made in one piece, maybe composed of independegt core-bars (Z (1, Figs. 12, 13, and 14, with aplate, 0, arranged between them. 1 urthern1ore, the block, instead ofbeing produced as described with rcfQrence to Figs. 1, 2, and 3, may becast around the graphite-coated metal core 0, as represented in Fig. 15,with the bosses shaped to correspond with the form shown in Fig. 4. Theblock, as previously described with reference to Fig. 4-, being nowreheated and the core inserted therein, it is passed through rolls ofsufficient draft to make the block close on the core and leave the metalof the block of the same thickness on either side of the flanges of thecore as the width of said flanges, as shown in Fig. (3 and in Fig. 16,when the casting shown in Fig. 1.5 is used. The block and core arrangedwithin it are then both heated to a uniform degree, and the sameflat-rolled,

. leaving guiding groovesff, Fig. 7, (or Fig. 16,)

in the top and bottom of the block. These grooves serve to receive a ribarranged on a table or support on which the block is placed, in orderthat the block may be uniformly centered and clamped on the tablewhile-the bosses are bcin g either wholly sawed off, as in Fig. 7 orpartially removed, as in Fig. 16, according to the thickness of metalrequired in the tube. The block with core in it is next passed between aseries of 'grooved rolls, the faces of which have a cont-our or outlinecorresponding with the transverse top and bottom outlines of the slab tobe produced. This brings the block and core in it to the conditionsrepresented in Fig. 8, (or 17,) till, by continued rolling, the slab D,shown in Figs. 9 (or 18) and 21, is produced. hen near the finish theslab should be passed between chilled boxrolls conforming to thefinished cross-section of the-slab.

It may here be observed, however, that instead of reducing the block, asdescribed, it is preferred, after the block has been closed on the coreand thewhole reheated, to pass the same through a stand of universalrolls grooved to receive several sized blocks previous to cutting offthe bosses, which latter may be done when the block has been reducedone-half its original thickness. The blocks, with the cores in them,should then be passed between threehigh rolls to nearly finish, andafterward through a pair of chilled rolls to finish.

The slab D is now out 01f at one end. Said severed end is opened for afew inches in the length of the slab, as shown in Figs. 10 and 22. Suchopened end of the slab is then swaged, as represented in Figs. 11 and23, and the same fitted over a nipple of a hydraulic machine or pump andgripers screwed down to clamp the swaged open end of the slab and toenter notches g in the flanged portions of said end to keep the slabfrom being forced 011' the nipple when fluid is forced into the slab toopen it throughout its length, or nearly so, the opposite end of theslab being closed and SQClllBd by a clamp, all as represented in Fig.2.4. This opens the main body of the slab to an oval form, after whichit is disengagefiffrom the pump and clamps and the ends of the slabsopened to correspond with the remainderof it preparatory to completingthe opening and shaping of the slab into a rounded tube, to do which theoval hollow slab (shown at 27) is heated and passed between two pairs ofdisk-rolls, G H, and over a mandrel having two bulbs, I J, the bulb Ibetween the first pair of rolls serving to prevent the metal frombuckling, and the bulb J between the second pair of rolls answering togive form to the interior of the tube, and, in conjunction with saidrolls, to shape the tube, as represented at Fig. 28.

It will here be remarked, in conclusion, that the flanged or I-shapedcore, as seen in Figs.

4t and 5, or the bars (I d of the similarly-shaped butsectionallyconstructed core. seen in Fig. 12, should be made of the samemetal as the block or casting, or of metal that will roll pro rata withthe block or casting.

The cutting or sawing of the bosses a a regulates thethickness of thetube. hen the bosses, instead of being cut oft flush with the sides ofthe block, as represented in Fig. 7, are sawed oft outside of such facesor sides, as shown in Fig. 16, the block, previous to such cutting,should be edge-rolled, so that it will enter the groove in the rollsintended for it. The subsequent rolling will crowd the metal above andbelow such cut portions laterally and fill the space in the grooves ofthe rolls. It extra thick tubes are wanted, the opposite side holes inthe blocks must be arranged nearer to each other-that is, further fromthe exterior of the bosses, thus leaving the metalof the bosses thickeroutside of the holes.

Gastin gs with an ordin ary sand core, or blocks having the core -barsand connecting metal plate inserted within them, also eastin gs withflanged cores, are treated the same as the split blocks.

Various-sized tubes may be made from the same block by edge-rollingprevious to sawing off the bosses, or even afterward, provided thebosses are removed, so that the pro rata rolling will leave the metal atthe margin-that is, the metal between the core and the exterior of thethickness required for the tubes.

In making the holes I) I), Fig. 1, in the block, the centers of saidholes should each be within their respective sides of the block to anextent equal to the thickness of the tube required, provided the bossesare to be sawed off flush. with the sides of the block, as in. Fig. 7.Thus, if the tube is to be one-eighth of an inch thick, the centers ofthe holes I) b must be one-eighth of an inch within their respectivesides of'the block. If the tube is to be three-sixteenths of an inchthick, the bosses should be sawed ott' one-sixteenth beyond the sides ofthe block, and so on, according to the thickness of tube required.

The tubes, after bein g finally and fully op ened, may be sized bywell-known methods, to put them in merchantable order. \Vhen it isdesired to give them a high or extra finish, they may be annealed andpickled and passed through dies over mandrels.

hat is here claimed, and desired to be secured by Letters Patent, is-

1. The method of constructing or producing the block, preparatory to itsfinal conversion into a tube, by forming bosses a a at its oppositeends, and holes I) b partly entering said bosses and the body of theblock, and dividing the metal between the said holes, essentially asherein shown and described.

2. The flanged or I-shaped core, constructed whole or in sections, foruse within a block or body of metal of or from which the tubing is made,substantially as described.

8. The process, herein described, of manufacturin g meta-l tubes from ablock or casting having side bosses and an opening through it arrangedin relation with the bosses, as specified, and fitted with a metal core,by flat and edge rolling the block, severing the bosses from the latter,spreading or opening the looped hollow slab, so produced by the internalapplication of gaseous or fluid pressure, and afterward further. openingand shaping the tube by means of rolls and a mandrel, as herein setforth.

WM. F. BROOKS.

'itnesses:

hIICHAEL RYAN, FRED. HAYNES.

